Ritter To Make Radon Home Test Kits Available

July 30, 1985|by DAN PEARSON, The Morning Call

An inexpensive, accurate test kit to measure the amount of radioactive radon gas in a person's house will be made available by the end of this week from Rep. Don Ritter's three Lehigh Valley offices, the legislator announced yesterday.

Technically known as a "diffusion barrier charcoal absorption radon collector," the kit costs $10, includes pre-paid return postage, and is easy to use. It was developed by Dr. Bernard Cohen, a nuclear physicist at the University of Pittsburgh, who is doing a study of human exposure to cancer- causing radon in Pennsylvania.

Ritter, whose home near Coopersburg lies well within Pennsylvania's "radon belt" between Reading and Easton, south of South Mountain, said the 4 by 4-inch box can be purchased from his offices, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at:

- Traylor Hotel, 1444 Hamilton St., Allentown, Suite 206.

- 2 Bethlehem Plaza, Bethlehem, Suite 300.

- Alpha Building, Easton, Room 705.

About 100 kits are expected to arrive and more will be ordered if necessary. A Ritter aide emphasized that personal checks or money orders are required. Cash will not be accepted.

Although the Environmental Protection Agency is working closely with the state on the possible health hazard of radon, Ritter said, the EPA's short- range survey will take at least six months and the longer-range study, possibly several years.

"What this kit does is give you a quick look at the situation in your home and should alert you to any serious radon dangers. The result can be compared to the OSHA standard for uranium miners who are subjected to radon gas in their work," Ritter said.

The kit contains a canister, which contains a charcoal wafer. After a tape is removed from the canister, exposing a small hole, it is placed somewhere in a room of the house that has an air flow. It must not be shut up in a desk drawer or cabinet. In about a week, the homeowner replaces the tape, fills out a label with information about the temperature and humidity in the room, and mails it to Pittsburgh for testing.

Ritter yesterday placed two kits in his own home - one in a bedroom on the first floor of his bi-level house and the other in his kitchen. Cohen told Ritter recently that the kit is accurate enough and is much quicker than other testing devices.

Noting that most people have their windows open and their homes well ventilated in the summer, Ritted remarked, "If you get a high radon reading during this season, you probably have a problem warranting further examination. I also intend to test my house in the winter, in a more closed environment."

Radon, a natural radioactive gas generated by the decay of uranium in subsurface rock, is considered to be the second major cause of lung cancer in humans, second only to smoking tobacco. Tests by the Pennsylvanian Power & Light Co. in Eastern Pennsylvania's radon belt showed homes with radon contents much higher than the federal government allows for uranium miners.

Ritter said the second phase of the EPA inquiry will be a comparative study of the morbidity and mortality rates in the "radon belt" and other areas of the state of similar size.

Since radon accumulates and dissipates quickly at the earth's surface, Ritter noted, the diffuser is an essential element of the canister designed by Cohen. Without the diffuser, the charcoal disk would show only the small amount of radon left at the end of the test period, Ritter observed.